Dog found in Delaware County was 450 miles from home

Traci Harrison of High Point, N.C., has been reunited with her dog Max.

Traci Harrison of High Point, N.C., has been reunited with her dog Max. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Of The High Point (N.C.) Enterprise (TNS)

You'll never guess where a dog turned up after wandering from his N.C. home.

A North Carolina woman is thanking God, some animal-loving strangers and a microchip for the return of her dog more than a month after he escaped from her backyard.

After more than a week of searching late last month, Traci Harrison of High Point, N.C., had resigned herself to never again seeing Max, her young shepherd/collie mix.

"I called the pound every few hours," she said Friday. "I rode around for hours before and after work trying to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. After eight days, I finally had to give up. I remember thinking he was gone, that he'd probably frozen to death or been hit by a car."

So you can imagine Harrison's disbelief when she got a phone call Thursday from an animal-control dispatcher in Delaware County — some 450 miles away — claiming to have Max.

"That's not possible; I live in North Carolina," she told him.

"Yes ma'am," the dispatcher replied, "but we have your dog."

Still, Harrison was skeptical.

"It took some convincing," dispatcher Rob Skocven said. "We had to send her a picture before she would believe it."

Sure enough, it was Max.

By late Friday afternoon, Max was on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia, headed for a sweet reunion with his owner at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

"There are no words to describe this," Harrison said. "This is not coincidence. This is only the workings of something that God could do."

Max's unusual odyssey began Nov. 18 when he escaped from Harrison's backyard. Harrison and her 13-year-old daughter, Emili, were heartbroken.

"Max is an escape artist; he loves to do that," Harrison said. "He just loves to run."

At the time, Harrison's father, Russell Harrison of Reidsville, N.C., was in the hospital, and doctors had given him only a couple days to live.

"So for Max to be gone, too, it was just really, really hard — a real sad point in my life," Harrison said.

Her father rallied and is no longer at death's door, she added, and now the good news of Max's return is, she believes, a Christmas miracle.

"I'm so excited," she said, "but it's still hard to wrap my mind around what has happened."

According to what Harrison has been able to piece together, Max apparently was found not too long after his escape by a woman in North Carolina. For some reason, though, a scan of Max's microchip — which would've provided Harrison's contact information — did not work, so the woman decided to keep Max.

Then she took him with her on a trip to Pennsylvania, where the canine Houdini promptly escaped again. Delaware County Animal Control picked up Max after getting a call about a loose dog, and this time the microchip scan led the department to Harrison and the phone call Thursday afternoon.

Once Harrison was contacted, Max was taken to the Philadelphia Animal Hospital for an exam.

"He's in great health," veterinary technician Krystal Donahue said Friday. "He looks very well taken care of. He wasn't dirty. He's a very sweet dog."

Harrison had two options for Max's return. The first option was what's known as an "animal-control train," in which animal-control officers from every state between Pennsylvania and North Carolina would transport the dog from state to state until he was safely back home. That wouldn't have cost Harrison a penny, but it would've taken a week or longer, Harrison was told.

Without hesitation, she chose the second option: putting Max on a plane and getting him home as quickly as possible, even though it meant paying nearly $600.

"It's not about the money," she said. "Max has a value that's not monetary. You can't put a price on that."

So she took the money she'd just gotten from a Christmas bonus and applied it toward a plane ticket for Max. She had been planning to use some of that money for a pedicure and some much-needed relaxation, but the news about Max changed her plans.

"I don't care," she said. "I would rather have my buddy home. I can't wait to see him, and I can't wait for him to sleep on the end of my bed. I can't wait to have him home again."